Manifold for filters.



FREDERICK B. LEG-FOLD, OF PERBYSVILLE, FENNSYLVANIA.

MANIFOLD FOR FILTERS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 21 1918.

Application filed November 30, 1914. Serial No. 874,750.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Fnnonnrcn B. Lnoronn, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Perrysville, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Manifolds for Filters; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clean and exact description thereof.

My invention relates to manifolds for filters.

As heretofore constructed, these manifolds usually consist of a main conduit with laterals projecting out therefrom on both sides with closed'ends, and said conduit and laterals being embedded in the concrete bottom of the filter, and provided with strainers at intervals therein for admitting the water to the manifold which filters down through the superimposed bed of sand and gravel, and which is carried off therefrom to the clear water well. In the course of time, the sand from the filter bed will drift down from the gravel and passes through the strainers into the manifold, and will gradually fill up the same so as to interfere with the proper operations of the filter. It becomes necessary, therefore, to remove this sand, and for this purpose, it is necessary to remove the manifolds and clean them. In the present form of manifolds constructed of closed round pipe, it is necessary to dig them out of the concrete, remove the caps at the ends of the laterals, disconnect the laterals from the main conduit, and insert rods in them to clean out the sand. The central manifold may be cleaned out by flushing with a hose. This operation is consequently attended with great waste of time as well as great cost and labor. I

By my invention, the manifold is placed in the bottom of the filter and embedded in the concrete up to the top, which is open and covered by a detachable plate so that in the event of sand drifting through the perforations in the plate or the strainers, the top plate can be removed without the necessity of cutting out the concrete or disturbing the manifolds in any manner whatever. sand is then removed by digging or sweeping it out, the top plates replaced, the filter-bed introduced, when the filter is again ready for operation.

In the drawing, Figure 1 is a plan view of a manifold partly broken away, embody- The 7 ingmy invention; Fig, 2 is a section on the line 22, Fig. 1; Fig. 3 1s a section on the line 33, Fig. 1;'Fig. 4: is a section on the line 4- 1, Fig. 1; and Fig. 5 shows a modified form of my invention.

In the drawing, the numeral 2 designates the central or main conduit of the manifold, which may be formed of cast-metal, and which is preferably elliptical in cross-section. This conduit is provided with the bolt-holes 8, by means of which the several sections of a manifold are connected up. The top plate t of the conduit 2, is removable and may be secured to the body portion by screws 5, or other suitable fastening devices. The strainers 6 are arranged at intervals in top-plate f, said strainers being of a common form, such as shown in Fig.

The laterals 7 project out from opposite sides of the conduit 2, being connected up to the openings 8 in said conduit, and the main body portion of said laterals is U- shaped as indicated in Fig. 4. At the upper edges of the laterals are the flanges 9 and shoulders 9 with which the strainerplates 10 engage. These strainer plates are made of metal of proper gage, and are arched so that when adjusted in position between the flanges 9, and secured in place by the bolts 11 which pass down through said strainer-plates and engage threaded seats 12 in the cross-pieces 13, the said strainerplates will be held securely in position, and by tightening up on the bolts 11, said plates will be forced tightly against the flanges 9 so that leakage at these points is guarded against. The plates 10 must be rigidly secured in position on the lateral 7 so that they will not be displaced by the pressure created in washing the filters where the wash water is forced into the laterals and up through the strainer-plates.

When the manifold 'is installed it is embedded in the concrete with the top-plates exposed, and the water as it comes from the superimposed filter-bed of sand and gravel, passes through the strainers 6 and the strainer-plates 10 into the manifold, whence it is conveyed to the clear-water well. The

water in its passage into the manifold will carry a certain amount of sand and foreign matter into the manifold and this sand will collect in the same, and in time will interfere with the proper operation of the filter both in the filtering as well as in the clean 

